The orcs came to Azeroth as an invading army, driven by a corruption that was not their own. They have broken free of it, and now they fight to earn a place in the world they once came to conquer.
Faction
Horde
Class choices
6 in the client, new: Mage
Home in lore
Durotar, Orgrimmar
Forever start
Not yet published by Blizzard
First choices
Class choices
From the published client snapshot, build 1.60.1.69977. A class marked new is one Blizzard names as a new combination for Forever.
✓ Client build 1.60.1.69977 matches Blizzard’s 22 September class table for this race.
Racial traits
What the orcs bring
Names and descriptions are read from the client build 1.60.1.69977. Blizzard says some traits were updated for Forever, and its own wording from 22 September is shown underneath where the names match. Neither has been checked in game.
Blood FuryClient and announcement
Increases Attack Power and Spell Power by 10% for 15 sec.
Blizzard, 22 September: “Increases Attack Power and Spell Power by 10% for 15 seconds.”
HardinessClient and announcement
Duration of Stun effects on you reduced by 20%.
Blizzard, 22 September: “Stun durations decreased by 20%.”
Axe SpecializationClient and announcement
Increases your critical strike chance with all spells and abilities by 1% while you have an axe or a two-handed axe equipped.
Blizzard, 22 September: “Axes increase spell and ability critical chance by 1%.”
Shatter CurseClient and announcement
Instantly removes and grants immunity to all Curses and Banes, and reduces all Magical damage taken by 15% for 8 sec.
Blizzard, 22 September: “Immunity to Curses and Banes and reduce Magical damage taken for 8 seconds.”
Place and people
Who the orcs are
“Although it took many years, the orcs finally escaped the demons’ corruption and won their freedom.”
Blizzard’s Forever introduction describes the orcs as a peaceful people of Draenor with shamanic beliefs. The Burning Legion enslaved them and forced them into war with the humans of Azeroth.
It took many years for the orcs to escape that corruption. Blizzard’s race page tells how, once free, they settled in Kalimdor and built their capital, Orgrimmar, in Durotar. The city is named for Orgrim Doomhammer, a former warchief of the Horde.
That history gives an orc character a particular weight. This is a people who lost themselves once, and who, in Blizzard’s words, still fight for honour in a world that hates and reviles them.
Blizzard’s 22 September article names Orc Mages first in its list of new race and class combinations, alongside Troll Warlocks, Undead Paladins, Human Hunters, Gnome Priests, Dwarf Shamans and the new Skyborne.
For a people whose story turns on magic misused and then thrown off, a mage is a new kind of orc to play. The announcement does not say how an orc mage is introduced in the world, where one trains, or what the first quests are. We have not verified those details, so this page does not describe them.
Blizzard has not named a Forever starting area for the orcs in the sources we follow, so we do not name one. The maps below show the homeland in lore, not a confirmed first step.
Home in lore
Orgrimmar, in Durotar on Kalimdor’s eastern coast, is the orcs’ capital in long-standing lore.
